British Scientists Want To Kill Off American Squirrels

Michigan State University and East Lansing loves their black squirrels. And the U.K. loves their little red squirrels. But the Brits have a problem - the number of red squirrels is declining. And who's to blame for this? According to the Daily Mail - American grey squirrels. Things were going great for the British red squirrels until around 1870 when someone decided to introduce American grey squirrels onto estates in the U.K. They looked good in their little cowboy hats and six-shooters and their tall-tales were a hit with British royalty. (That part may or may not be made up by me)

Unfortunately for the U.K's native red squirrels, the American greys are bigger, better able to survive winters due to the fact they can store more fat and they eat all the green acorns the reds live on. Things aren't looking good for the reds. While there may be two million grey squirrels now in the U.K., experts say there may only be 15,000 to 140,000 red squirrels.

Researchers have a plan. The same people responsible for bringing you "Dolly" the Cloned Sheep, want to edit the DNA of the grey squirrels to make the female squirrels infertile - and stop them from reproducing.

Or, you could lengthen squirrel season. Guess they didn't think of that.

What's the line from Jeff Goldblum, in "Jurassic Park"?

"Life, uh, finds a way."

Here's the story.